North Carolina Product Liability Blog : North Carolina Product Liability Lawyer & Attorney : D. Hardison Wood : Toy Safety, Child Restraint, Car Seats

For more information on the LATCH system, visit these websites:

• Car Safety
• The Car Seat Lady
• Buckle-up NC
• Safe Kids USA

For the LATCH system to be effective, it is imperative that the child restraint system be put in the vehicle correctly. Whether you are heading out on a long road trip with the family or just down the street to soccer practice, the safety of your child depends on a correctly installed car seat.

For information on how to correctly install your LATCH car seat, click here:
 

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/womenfamilies/articles/104581/article.html

http://www.research.chop.edu/programs/carseat/

http://www.tobio.info/passat/howtos/LATCH.pdf

http://www.ehow.com/video_4440673_latch-system-works-car-seats.html
 

If you are interested in finding out more about the NHTSA National Standardized Child Passenger Safety certification course, visit this website:

www.cpsboard.org/techmanual.htm

For car safety tips and other tips for traveling with children, please visit these websites, and share them with anyone who will be responsible for traveling with or transporting your children by motor vehicle.

www.safekids.org/tips/tips_car.htm

www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/travelsafetytips.cfm
 

If you have been affected by a faulty child seat or any other injury and would like to discuss your potential legal claim please contact our office at 1-877-829-7211.

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In North Carolina, the law states that children must use booster seats until they are 8 years old and weigh at least 80 pounds. The penalty for not having your child properly restrained is $25. This, of course, is no comparison to the price that would be paid if a child were found unrestrained at the time of an accident.

The North Carolina Child Passenger Safety Law can be viewed here.

A short summary of the law can be viewed here.

For Frequently Asked Questions about the NC Child Passenger Safety Law, go here.

If your child has been injured in a car accident or as a result of a faulty booster seat, please call the law offices of D. Hardison Wood at 1-877-829-7211.

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A list of the all the recalls is below:

1. Window Covering Safety Council Recalls to Repair All Roman and Roll-Up Blinds Due to Risk of Strangulation, http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10073.html

2. Near Strangulations of Child Prompts Recall to Repair Roman Shades and Roll-Up Blinds by JCPenney, http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10066.html

3. Risk of Strangulation Prompts Recall to Repair Roll-Up Blinds and Roman Shades by Walmart, http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10067.html

4. Strangulation Death of a Child Prompts Recall to Repair Roman Shades by All Strong Industry, http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10068.html

5. Risk of Strangulation Prompts Recall to Repair Roll-Up Blinds by Lotus & Windoware: Sold Exclusively at Ace Hardware and Big Lots, http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10069.html

6. Risk of Strangulation Prompts Recall to Repair Matchstick Roll-Up Shades by International Merchandise; Sold Exclusively at Big Lots, http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10070.html

7. Near Strangulation Prompts Recall to Repair Roman and Roller Shades Sold at Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, and PBTeens, http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10071.html

8. Risk of Strangulation Prompts Recall of Roman Shades; Sold Exclusively at West Elm, http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10072.html

9. Risk of Strangulation Prompts Recall of Roman Shades by Draper Inc., http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10074.html

10. Near Strangulation of Children Prompts Recall of Roman Shades by Louis Hornick & Co. Sold at Ross Stores, http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10075.html
 

If your child has been injured due to a product defect, call our office immediately.

At the town hall meeting, some stats for the past two years were discussed.

So far in calendar year 2009, CPSC has had 38 toy recalls, which is down from 162 in 2008 and 148 in 2007. Toy recalls involving lead paint are also down. This year there has been 14 recalls involving lead, down from 63 in 2007 and 85 in 2008. CPSC attributes this decline to increased enforcement at the ports, cooperation with other nations, consumer awareness and education and compliance by the industry with new federal safety rules.

For 2008, the Commission has reports of 19 toy-related deaths and about 172,700 hospital emergency room treated toy-related injuries  to children under 15. Almost half of these injuries, approximately 82,300 were to children younger than 5 years of age. Most of the deaths were associated with drowning, motor vehicle involvement, or airway obstruction from a small toy or small part of a toy.
 

If your child has suffered an injury, please contact our office to discuss your potential legal matter. We can be reached toll-free 1-877-829-7211 or by email contact@hardisonwood.com.

Description: This recall involves wooden play sets with swings, slides and ladders. Each set has an overhead monkey bar ladder that acts as both the monkey bar and swing beam, and an end ladder coated with cranberry or green plastic. The instruction manual has the name "Adventure Playsets" and one of the following model numbers printed on the cover.

Durango 1-AP016 and 1- AP018

Yukon 1-AP052

Tacoma 1- AP017 and 1-AP051

El Dorado 1-AP016

Bellevue 1-AP048, and 1-AP012

Dakota 1- AP046

Sherwood 1-AP049

Sedona 1- AP002

Ventura 1-AP008

Madison 1- AP006 and 1-AP015

Belmont 1-AP003  

Note: The Bellevue,Tacoma and Durango swing sets were previously recalled due to detaching frames and a fall hazard.

Sold at: Walmart, Toys R Us, Academy Sports, Menards, and Mill stores nationwide, and online at Walmart.com, ToyRUs.com, Willygoat.com and through the DMSI catalog from January 2004 through December 2007 for between $300 and $600.

 

The Life is Good Company recalled approximately 15,000 Newbury travel mugs. They can become excessively hot and burn the users. There have already been three reports of excessively hot mugs and one suffered a burn to the hand.

SamsungT Over-the-range microwaves have been recalled due to a shock hazard.. This recall involves about 43,000 units. If an installation bolt comes into contact with an electrical component found inside the microwave, and the microwave is plugged into an ungrounded outlet, a shock hazard may present itself.

Part 1203 of Title 16 of the CFRs is entitled "SAFETY STANDARD FOR BICYCLE HELMETS" (note *pdf link).  This is a CPSC regulation, as they are the chief regulator for products like bicycle helmets and it includes a CPSC performance test in four areas: (a) peripheral vision, (b) positional stability, (c) dynamic strength, and the most important, (d) impact attenuation.

The impact attentuation test derives from SAE standard J211 - OCT88, covering the instrumentation required to adequately perform this test.  The impact attentuation test seeks compliance of the helmet with a "worst case scenario" and thus it is modified depending on the helmet type.  If the helmet fails this test it may not be sold as a CPSC approved helmet.

Not to get too labored with specifics, but the test is a drop test which simulates the impact a rider would expect to receive traveling around 14mph and falling from the bike.  In addition, the test impacts different types of anvils to simulate different road conditions, including the dreaded "curb anvil" which simulates a rider falling onto a curb head first.

All impacts must fall within the range of force thresholds that are below the generally accepted head injury thresholds.  Moreover, a series of tests is done to ensure that the helmets perform routinely and consistently.  Thus the test provides for real world, foreseeable accidents, where without the device, the rider would be subject to forces on their skull above commonly accepted injury thresholds, and consequently with the device, the rider is not subject to the same force levels.

This is not to say that you can't be injured while riding a bicycle with a helmet.  But one of the most common accident situations is a low speed fall from a bike onto a curb or roadway, and without a helmet these injuries can be serious, and sometimes deadly.  This test helps ensure that the helmet can withstand this easily foreseeable accident and reduce the probability or likelihood of injury by a significant amount.

As the purpose of the rule states: the purpose and basis of this standard is to reduce the likelihood
of serious injury and death to bicyclists resulting from impacts to the head.

In other words, not even the CPSC thinks wearing a CPSC approved bicycle helmet will "prevent" head injury.  But it is proven that helmets which keep injurious forces from reaching the wearer's head in foreseeable accidents will make the ride "more safe".  And that is all, at the end of the day, we can ask for... making an enjoyable activity "more safe" by the wearing of a light, non-uncomfortable safety device.

Or as Bike Noob concluded: I for one am going to strap on my $35 CPSC-certified helmet and keep riding.

If you or someone you know has been in an accident while riding their bicycle, please consider contacting the Law Office of D. Hardison Wood in Cary, North Carolina.  We have handled a number of bicycle injuries and accidents and have even successfully concluded several helmet defect cases and may be able to assist you in protecting your legal rights.  Our contact page is here.

In addition, WRAL recently reported that the Cary, NC based Kellogg Co.'s Austin Quality Foods has been linked to the Salmonella issues.

Tests have determined that one sample of peanut butter paste from a Cary cracker factory contains the same strain of salmonella that has sickened hundreds of people nationwide in recent weeks, officials said Monday.

Inspectors with the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services took 50 samples from the Kellogg Co.'s Austin Quality Foods plant in Cary, which uses peanut butter from the Georgia plant. All but one tested negative for salmonella.

The tainted sample came from a Sept. 19 peanut butter shipment, which should help federal investigators pinpoint the time frame of the contamination at the Georgia plant, said Joe Reardon, food and drug protection director for the department.

Unfortunately as each day passes, it seems there are additional product recalls indicating how wide spread the contamination really is. If you have been adversely affected, and would like to discuss your matter, please contact our office at 919-677-0144.

This new law was signed in August of 2008, and it almost made it illegal to see recalled products. If a reseller attempts to sell a recalled product he/she can held liable for both criminal or civil penalties.

These new regulations can be very confusing. The CPSC added this notice on January 30, 2009.

CPSC Grants One Year Stay of Testing and Certification Requirements for Certain Products

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission voted unanimously (2-0) to issue a one year stay of enforcement for certain testing and certification requirements for manufacturers and importers of regulated products, including products intended for children 12 years old and younger. These requirements are part of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), which added certification and testing requirements for all products subject to CPSC standards or bans.

Significant to makers of children's products, the vote by the Commission provides limited relief from the testing and certification requirements which go into effect on February 10, 2009 for new total lead content limits (600 ppm), phthalates limits for certain products (1000 ppm), and mandatory toy standards, among other things.

The decision by the Commission gives the staff more time to finalize four proposed rules which could relieve certain materials and products from lead testing and to issue more guidance on when testing is required and how it is to be conducted.

The stay will remain in effect until February 10, 2010, at which time a Commission vote will be taken to terminate the stay.

The stay does not apply to:

• Four requirements for third-party testing and certification of certain children's products subject to:
  • The ban on lead in paint and other surface coatings effective for products made after December 21, 2008;
  • The standards for full-size and non full-size cribs and pacifiers effective for products made after January 20, 2009;
  • The ban on small parts effective for products made after February 15, 2009; and
  • The limits on lead content of metal components of children�s jewelry effective for products made after March 23, 2009.
• Certification requirements applicable to ATV's manufactured after April 13, 2009.
• Pre-CPSIA testing and certification requirements, including for: automatic residential garage door openers, bike helmets, candles with metal core wicks, lawnmowers, lighters, mattresses, and swimming pool slides; and
• Pool drain cover requirements of the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool & Spa Safety Act.

The stay of enforcement provides some temporary, limited relief to the crafters, children's garment manufacturers and toy makers who had been subject to the testing and certification required under the CPSIA. These businesses will not need to issue certificates based on testing of their products until additional decisions are issued by the Commission. However, all businesses, including, but not limited to, handmade toy and apparel makers, crafters and home-based small businesses, must still be sure that their products conform to all safety standards and similar requirements, including the lead and phthalates provisions of the CPSIA.

Handmade garment makers are cautioned to know whether the zippers, buttons and other fasteners they are using contain lead. Likewise, handmade toy manufacturers need to know whether their products, if using plastic or soft flexible vinyl, contain phthalates.

The stay of enforcement on testing and certification does not address thrift and second hand stores and small retailers because they are not required to test and certify products under the CPSIA. The products they sell, including those in inventory on February 10, 2009, must not contain more than 600 ppm lead in any accessible part. The Commission is aware that it is difficult to know whether a product meets the lead standard without testing and has issued guidance for these companies that can be found on our web site.

The Commission trusts that State Attorneys General will respect the Commission's judgment that it is necessary to stay certain testing and certification requirements and will focus their own enforcement efforts on other provisions of the law, e.g. the sale of recalled products.

If you have a child child safety concern and believe your child's legal rights may have violated, feel free to contact us to discuss your matter.